Tasty, Trendy Brae Beef Is Light On Fat But Heavy On Price

July 10, 1986|By Patricia Tennison.

A tasty contender for beef of the future has arrived in Chicago, and you can try it--for a hefty price.

Brae beef, one of the new lean meats that tout up to 85 percent less fat than standard beef, is on the menu at That Steak Joynt, 1610 N. Wells St., for $24.95 per steak dinner. Or you can mail order five pounds of hamburger, for example, from Connecticut for $35.75, including shipping cost.

We tried some mail-delivered Brae strip steak and hamburger in the Tribune test kitchen, comparing it to USDA Prime grade strip steak and ground round hamburger from a local supermarket. The differences were distinct.

On the plus side, Brae started with and kept a deeper red, almost purple color. It lost slightly less weight when broiled, and looked much plumper. On the minus side, it lost more juice after cooking. And, although the initial flavor was good, the Brae developed a liver flavor and drier texture as it was chewed.

A medium-rare filet, sampled recently at That Steak Joynt, was very tender, with a good, beefy flavor and texture that often comes from aging quality beef. Raw in a spicy carpaccio, the beef was even better, literally fork-tender.

An uncooked, 4-ounce serving of Brae beef hamburger has about 3 grams of fat and 130 calories, according to its promoters. The same serving of USDA Choice ground round has about 13 grams of fat and 215 calories. However, John Francis, director of marketing for the National Live Stock & Meat Board`s beef industry council, says that lean beef and standard ground beef will have comparable fat levels after cooking.

Brae, named after the owner`s Windabrae farm in Greenwich, Conn., where the research began 11 years ago, starts with familiar Black Angus and Hereford cattle. They are fed on grass for two years, then given a diet that includes spinach, yams and other vegetables, plus beer. No growth hormones or other chemicals are used, says Elmer Waite, manager of Brae Beef Inc.

Supplies are limited. There are only about 6,000 Brae cattle, and it takes several years to increase a herd. Indeed, shortly after That Steak Joynt started serving Brae, there already were problems getting enough meat, restaurant owner Billy Siegel says.

``We`re the sole producer,`` Waite says, ``and even though we`ve doubled our production within six weeks, we still can`t keep up.``

Brae costs about three times more than supermarket prices for regular beef. The price should come down once Brae is mass-produced but the meat won`t be found in supermarkets, Waite says. The specialty meat is better marketed in small, retail stores, mail order or in restaurants, he says.

But as a food trend it is right on target, according to Francis:

``The message that we`re getting from consumers is that the fat has to go.``

More information is available by writing Brae Beef Inc., 100 Grayrock Pl., Stamford Town Center, Stamford, Conn. 06901, or by calling 800-323-4484.